What's with that Google phone?

Hello guys, NY times did a great job, trying to put the together the puzzle surrounding Google phone initiative, better known as gPhone.

According to the article, a large group of engineers at Google has been working in secret on a mobile phone project. As word about their efforts has trickled out, expectations in the tech world has been boiling.

It seems Google wants to extend its dominance of online advertising to the mobile Internet, a small market today, but one that is expected to grow rapidly. It hopes to persuade wireless carriers and mobile phone makers to offer phones based on its software, according to people briefed on the project. The cost of those phones may be partly subsidized by advertising that appears on their screens.

according to industry executives familiar with the project, the core of Google’s phone efforts is an operating system for mobile phones that will be based on open-source Linux software, a wise choice, since it will allow tons of developers and fans write and run any apps they choose to on Google's platform (unlike Apple's iPhone, which is a closed proprietary system, that only allows web 2.0 based applications that run through a web browser).

While Google has built phone prototypes to test its software and show off its technology to manufacturers, the company is not likely to make the phones itself, according to analysts. Also noted that Google is not working on an iPhone competitor, but rather on creating software that will be an alternative to Windows Mobile from Microsoft and other operating systems, which are built into phones sold by many manufacturers. And unlike Microsoft, Google is not expected to charge phone makers a licensing fee for the software.

As we reported, Google recently has been biding on the old 700MHz wireless spectrum, implementing Google's desire to loosen the carriers’ control over their networks.
The mobile phone project at Google was built in part around Android, a small mobile software company it acquired in 2005. An Android co-founder, Andy Rubin, had founded Danger, which created the popular T-Mobile Sidekick smartphone. Mr. Rubin works at Google’s headquarters in Mountain View.
Though its not all that bright for Google's phone business, some analysts say there are no guarantees that Google will be able to replicate its online success in the mobile world.




In Wall street Google(GOOG) is having a great week, as it crossed the 600$ a share, reaching an all time high of 625$ today.

A reminder: At its IPO 3 years ago it started at the ridicules price of just 85$.